MicroStrategy Acquires $147M in Bitcoin for Its Balance Sheet

Michael Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy, recently announced that the company has increased its Bitcoin holdings by 5,445 BTC between August 1 and September 24. This latest acquisition cost the firm approximately $147.3 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

As a result of this accumulation, MicroStrategy now holds about $4.6 billion worth of Bitcoin on its balance sheet. The company started investing in Bitcoin in 2020 as Saylor aimed to decrease cash reserves and protect against inflation.

To date, MicroStrategy has acquired a total of 158,245 BTC at an average price of $29,582 per coin. To finance this most recent purchase, the company issued 403,362 shares of MSTR stock to investors.

Notable Wall Street firms such as BlackRock and Fidelity are among the top 10 shareholders of MicroStrategy. Investing in MSTR shares may offer U.S. companies a way to gain exposure to Bitcoin without directly holding the cryptocurrency, particularly in light of regulatory uncertainties.

Both BlackRock and Fidelity have also filed applications with the SEC to launch the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S., a product designed to invest directly in Bitcoin. BlackRock’s filing has prompted a surge of similar applications from various firms including Ark Invest, Valkyrie, WisdomTree, and Franklin Templeton.

Although the SEC has yet to approve any of these applications, many in the industry believe that a decision in Grayscale’s ongoing lawsuit against the SEC could significantly impact the future of cryptocurrency and the potential for a spot Bitcoin ETF.